


The Basement

by BoredHead



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Car Accidents, Coming Out, Established Relationship, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Fluff, Homophobia, I promise, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Marauders, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Self-Harm, Werewolves, but it's not that bad, tags seem so dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-26 05:48:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30101250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoredHead/pseuds/BoredHead
Summary: The sixth year of Hogwart ends and the summer starts. The Marauders are not yet noticing the signs of oncoming Dark Times, invested in their relationships. Remus is excited to see Sirius again when his boyfriend decides to visit him in his hometown. But when he's waiting for him at the cafe, he meets a group of strangers - and recognises them as werewolves.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

The light in their compartment dimmed, as the Hogwart Express dived beneath London, crossing the symbolic border between their sixth year of school and a summer break. Reluctantly they got up and started to pick up trash, chess figures, newspapers and whatever else they’d put out during the day-long journey. There were just three of them. Peter was still part of the Marauders and spent most of the time with them, but since he joined a school club of the Defence Against the Dark Arts, he gravitated toward his new acquaintances. James claimed that he was probably trying to pick up some slytherin chick.

"The last chocolate frog, Moony", said Sirius temptatively. "You can’t let it go to waste, can you?"

"No, really, I’ve eaten too much…", groaned Remus."

He knew too well, that before they’ll part ways the frog will somehow end up in his trunk. As sweet of a gesture as it was, Sirius never seemed to take into account that food tends rott or melt under hot summer sun.

"Now, James", he started ceremonially, "I’ve got some news regarding a certain lady, that you may be interested to hear…"

"What?! You’ve got an update on Lily the whole time?! And you’re telling me only now?!"

"Well, I didn’t want to hear your longing sighs for eight hours straight."

Sirius giggled, but James chose to ignore them.

"So?", he urged. "What’s up with Lily?"

"She’s got herself a boyfriend!", shouted Sirius.

"No, she has NOT!", hurried Remus, seeing shock and desperation spreading through friend’s face. "Things are generally looking good. She noted that you finally grew up emotionally from the state of a toddler. She also said that she’s starting to understand why such a kind, intelligent and mature person as me, wants to have anything in common with such a little brat as you. Don’t snort at me, Prongs, these are the exact words she used. She thinks your behaviour shouldn’t be easily forgotten, but she believes you’ll become a decent man eventually."

"Yesss!". James shot up a fist, barely noticing that he hit the luggage shelf. "It’s gonna happen, boys! Next year Evans will be mine!"

"I also know that she’s looking forward to the premiere of the newest Bathilda Bagshot’s book. I guess she might be happy if someone, who’s practically a neighbour to the said author, sent her an autographed copy even before the official release..."

"Moony, you’re an absolute genius! What’s that book called?"

" _The Rise of Magical Racism_. And, by the way, I’d like a copy myself. You can tell Lily that I asked you for the book, and you thought she might like it as well. Because you know and admire, how bold and brave she is in defending the not-pure-blood rights."

James threw himself at Remus and crushed his ribs in a fervent hug.

"Moony! I love you!"

"Hey, that’s my job!", interfered Sirius jokingly.

"You’re my best friend!"

"Hey! THAT is ALSO my job!"

"Okay, okay", James finally let go and pulled his trunk. "Are you guys coming?"

"Just a second", said Sirius. "We want to say goodbye."

James’ face fell a bit, but he got out of the compartment and closed the door. They started dating in the middle of the fifth year but came out to James only the last November. Well, not as much they came out as he came in - to the dormitory, where they were passionately kissing. They usually took the time he spent on quidditch training to have some privacy but didn’t predict this time it’ll be shorter, due to the raging storm outside.

In the five years of their friendship, James was never so mad at any of them. Actually, he’s never been mad at them at all. Marauders had all sorts of dramas and heated arguments, that always were played half-jokingly, and remembered only as anecdotes, if at all. Never before any of them had stopped talking to the others.

It was, as well, the first serious crisis in the Remus-Sirius relationship. Remus was always scared of “what if someone finds out”, and now someone did find out, and it turned out even worse than he expected. And Sirius… Sirius didn’t say it out loud - they weren’t talking much these days, anyway - but Remus was sure he was weighing the options, thinking of sacrificing Remus’ love for the sake of the friendship with James.  
Prongs was trying to avoid them, but that’s not easy when you all live in the same room. They cornered him a week before Christmas. James didn’t have anything against different sexual orientations per se - “whatever turns you on, that’s none of my business!” - but he didn’t want to be left alone. He could bear Peter becoming more and more distant, but his two best friends suddenly forming a pair and wanting to spend their free time without him… They assured him the friendship will be on the first place, and that they will have “dates” solely when he is out for training or other stuff, as they were in the previous year. The Marauders went back together and James quickly adjusted, he didn’t even mind if they were snuggling or slightly kissing in his presence and often made jokes about them as a couple.

But Remus felt James was right at the beginning - they wanted to spend more of their time without him. To smuggle some food, wrap themselves in a blanket and have breakfast at the lake, to have long walks in the forest they knew so well, or dates in Hogsmeade, or long evenings in the Prefects’ bathroom…

"I really hope it’s going to happen", said Remus, looking at the closed door. "I mean, him and Lily."

"Yeah, me too. I have a bet with Peter, but these two galleons are worth it."

"You’ve bet against James?!"

"That’s just a bet, okay?", Sirius shuddered. "It’s not like I’m trying to block them from getting together. And it was back when we all thought it’s just a stupid phase and James will forget Evans in a month. Drop it, Moony, let’s not talk about him now."

Sirius came closer and Remus leaned for a kiss, melting in the warm hug. When they parted last year, he secretly felt some kind of relief. Still overwhelmed by loving, being loved back, having a boyfriend, kissing him, touching… He was glad for that break, for time to think it through, as he always liked to, before making the next big step. When he saw Sirius again on the first of September, he was sure, and calm, and confident of his feelings, and of what he wanted.

...and they made that next big step in the Prefects’ bathroom within the first week.

Now Remus perfectly knew what he wanted - and he didn’t want it to end. Even just for the period of two months. He broke a kiss and snuggled into Sirius, placing his chin on the gape of his neck.

"I already miss you", he croaked.

"Hey, that’s just a summer break!", Sirius chuckled at his overly dramatic tone.

"I know, I’m just being emotional…"

"Yeah, it’s that phase today, isn’t it?"

"What?"

"It depends on the moon, I noticed. For a few days after you’re sleepy and emotional, and always feel cold. In the days before, however, you’re hot, excited, and easily annoyed. The plus is, you’re also suuuper horny."

Remus groaned.

"Please, tell me you don’t have a calendar to keep up with my moods…"

"Of course I don’t", Sirius patted him on the shoulder. "I’m not organised enough to use a calendar. If I were, I would have one for sure. Let’s go, until your parents start to freak out."

They kissed one last time and hurried through the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We basically just visit Remus' hometown and his family, but I had too much fun stylizing this introduction ;)
> 
> P.S. Very sentient and very communicative owls, and their interactions with characters, were one of my favourite little things in Harry Potter. I know everyone has their own style and all, but I'd just LOVE to see it more in fanfiction!

Summer started off at full blast, with the temperature reaching 40 degrees, and even Remus couldn’t avoid getting slightly tanned, which made his scars more visible. Three weeks later, however, the weather changed, becoming unreasonably cold and foggy. The most desperate vacationers still tried to swim in lakes, catch some sun, and enjoy a barbeque, but the majority resumed to cosy cafes and dance halls.

The Little Hydendale proudly contained as many as four of them.

The old, pebbled road led from the west end of the city, through fields and thin woods, around a curve of the lake, to the ruins of an old castle that was rumoured to be haunted. Somewhere in the middle of that road laid a small house built of grey stones, with one wall devoured completely by ivy, and with thick garden around, and stupidly high sunflowers, swooning over the fence.

There lived the Lupins.

They were commonly considered as _weird_ , but in that non-threatening, non-scandalous way, which made them a topic of afternoon-tea-gossip only in the most boring of weeks.

Mr Lupin hardly ever showed up in the town. If he did, he wore a perfectly formal suit and a perfectly formal little moustache. His wife spilt on some occasion that he worked for the Ministry in London, and people were actually able to believe that, although no one ever saw him driving to and back from work.

Mrs Lupin was a little, talkative, and charming woman, usually dressed in a colorful hippie way, sometimes with flowers tucked in her hair - even now, in her early forties. She worked half-time in the public library, because the public library in Little Hydendale wasn’t popular enough to be open full-time, and the budget was tight. Mrs Lupin was the type of person that bakes cupcakes for charity events, volunteers in the hospital, and exposes splendid Christmas decorations at least a month in advance. On average she spent in the library a few more hours more than what she was paid for, lost in the books with strange titles, like _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ , or _The Theory of Invisibility_.

As far as people in town respected well-dressed, ministry-working, completely normal and decent Mr Lupin, they kind of thought Mrs Lupin was a witch. To the great delight of the couple - because in reality, she was a normal person, and he was a wizard.

They had a son, now sixteen, almost seventeen of age, who showed up in the town just a bit more often than his father, and never mingled with his peers. The boy was always thin, pale and shy, with a concerning amount of strange scars, showing on his hands and face. Someone has actually called the authorities once, suspecting serious child abuse, but the social worker showed up and explained, that the young Remus was suffering a rare disease - haemophilia. It made his skin extremely easy to break, and any injury - extremely hard to heal, as his blood lacked the clotting factors. His parents were planning home-schooling because even the tiniest of scratch could be dangerous if not treated properly.

But Remus eventually went to school, a mysterious, far, boarding school, where he disappeared for the six consecutive years, from September to June, excluding Christmas and Easter. Three weeks ago he returned from that school for a summer break, and now he was woken up by a large black owl, knocking with its beak on the window.

“Come in…” he murmured sleepily, opening sticky eyes. 

Owl hooted exasperatedly, as it wasn’t able to come in. If it could, it wouldn’t knock.

Remus finally grasped some sense of reality, jumped to his feet and opened the window. Chilly, morning air tingled on his heated skin. He gave the owl some old, dried to the bone biscuits he kept specifically for that purpose and took the letter.

At first, he felt disappointed by its length - just a few sentences - but after he took it in one look, excitement exploded in his chest. He read it twice and thrice, just to make sure, and run to the kitchen, still barefoot and in pyjamas.

“Morning!” chirped his mum, spreading butter on a hot toast. Dad was still here too, drinking tea over a newspaper. “Did something happen?”

“Yes! I mean, nothing bad. Sirius wrote to me.” He waved a letter, coming closer to the table. “He asks if he could come here for the weekend, or for a few more days if you agree.”

“Oh, that’s nice of him! Though, we don’t have much of a space for guests…”

“We can share my room”, proposed Remus quickly. “It’s what we do in Hogwart, anyway, don’t we?”

“Right, I think we could fit a couch in there…”

“Young Mr Black will be welcome here, of course”, his father lifted eyes from the newspaper. “But make sure it’s not  _ this  _ weekend. The full moon on Friday, remember? You won’t be able to hide it here…”

“Sirius already knows, so…”, Remus stopped abruptly, noticing their expressions. “Well, it’s not easy to hide it from people who sleep with you in one dormitory… Like, I couldn’t excuse myself for being absent every full moon for six years…” 

“I’m glad you found such understanding and tolerant friends”, said Mrs Lupin after a few seconds of awkward silence. “It’s the greatest treasure in the world! Still, make sure he’s aware the full moon occurs this weekend. Not everyone keeps a calendar of the phases.” Remus bit his lips to suppress a snort. “He should also know that you will transform in the basement in the same building, not in a shack far away, outside of the castle's grounds.”

“Right, I’ll tell him this. So, can he come?”

Mrs Lupin gave him the warmest of her smiles.

“Tell him he’s always welcome.”

“Thanks! I love you!”

He ran back to his room, leaving them rather surprised. Their son wasn’t the kind of boy that runs through the house in the morning or shouts the expressions of love. But that was the first time he'd invite a friend to his home - no wonder he was excited.

* * *

Remus was extremely excited for Sirius’ visit until he realised it’ll be the first time he’d invite a friend to his home. 

He sat on his bed, with “Dear Sirius” already written on the top of the page, and gaped at the opposite wall. He’s never actually thought about it - home is just a home - but now he felt slightly ashamed of it. It was small, and cramped, with walls painted so long ago, he didn’t even have the memory of it. Remus obviously never visited Sirius’ family house, but he visited James’ - and he knew Blacks were  _ way _ more loaded than Potters. James lived in a mansion, with antics, carpets, painted ceilings, a vast library, a well-attended garden and all of that. And it was in Godric’s Hollow, one of the most famous wizard villages; not in the middle of nowhere, between a boring muggle town and a heap of old rocks.

And there was The Basement. Remus felt the heat spreading through his chest. Yes, Sirius knew a lot about nasty aspects of a werewolf's life, but the Basement was something entirely different. Even before Remus had Animagi friends to hang out with under the full moon, transformations in the shack were way better than the Basement. 

Nothing could compare with that level of terror and humiliation. 

He knew that it was good and necessary, he prefered this over the risk of hurting someone, but still, the thought of Sirius seeing him this way…

The black owl hooted at him to hurry up with the answer, so he shook his head and started to write. It took over half an hour to complete. He wrote he’d love to see Sirius back, and his parents agreed, but stated that there isn’t really much to see or do here, and he didn’t want to waste Sirius’ summer break by sitting in the boring countryside, as Sirius probably has some prospects of more interesting holidays. He also added that the full moon starts this Friday - though he was sure Sirius is well aware of this - and warned him that the way it’s handled here is way less convenient than at Hogwart. If Sirius still wants to visit - which would be awesome - he’d better choose some later date.

Until Remus sent the owl away, dressed up, and went to the kitchen for breakfast, Mr Lupin was already gone to work. Mrs Lupin suggested that the two of them could go to the garden and try to sort out an old pond, dark green and rather smelly. It was a hard job, as she wasn’t a witch, and he was still too young to use magic outside of Hogwart. But Remus was thankful for the distraction. He knew he couldn’t focus on anything else, waiting for the answer from Sirius.

The answer arrived in the late evening of the same day. It was a bit longer than the previous one.

_ MOONY! _

_ Why does it sound like you don’t want me there?! If you don’t - just say it, I get it, but now it’s just confusing! _

_ I don’t care if your town is boring as hell. I don’t want to come for sightseeing, I want to come for you, and you are pretty damn interesting. And I can handle you during the full moon, and I thought you prefer not to go through this alone??? You said you miss me, and I miss you too - but maybe you were just being kind and now I’m being annoying? _

_ Potters go to Italy this Wednesday, so it’d be perfect if I could show up at yours Wednesday evening, but they said I can stay at theirs on my own. If you don’t want to see me, just say it, I’ll understand. If you want, but your parents can’t afford a guest, maybe you could visit Godric’s Hollow, or I could rent a room in the Leaky Cauldron, and we will meet in London. There are plenty of options! _

_ So write me an answer, a sincere one this time! _

_ Love you, _

_ Sirius _

Remus was blushing fervently before he reached the end of the letter, partly from embarrassment, partly from that “pretty damn interesting” thing. He grabbed a clean sheet and tipped his feather in ink ...and then stayed frozen in this position until Sirius’ owl pecked his finger impatiently.

Finally, he decided to do what he was asked for - he wrote a perfectly honest letter, all his silly shames, fears and embarrassments included. He sent the owl and went to bed, feeling like an idiot - but a fortunate idiot, that in just two days will get a chance to hug his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hope you enjoyed it! More chapters on the way - I think it'll be about 10, but knowing me, may end up a bit longer ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! That's my first fic ever, all comments and kudos are welcome!
> 
> This chapter is rather short, more like a prologue (why doesn't AO3 have that option...?). The next ones will be longer and more plot-heavy. Hope to see you there!


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